Surge in households seeking help with energy bills in 2024, says Citizens Advice
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Citizens Advice helped almost 60,000 households struggling to resolve problems with their energy bills last year – the equivalent of one person every two working minutes. The charity said the figure was an increase of almost 20% on 2023 and double the number of 2020.
Billing issues were the single most common type of issue that Citizens Advice consumer service advisers encountered, it said. It has urged Ofgem to do more to protect customers as soaring energy costs drive billing issues, with the average household having to absorb a 1.2% increase to their bill as of January 1 and another 3% hike forecast from April.
The charity said said it was “crucial” that suppliers got billing right, meaning providing consumers with accurate and regular bills which they could easily understand in order to make informed decisions about their energy consumption and costs. While energy billing issues were not a new problem, the consequences for consumers were frequently more serious since the affordability crisis, the advisory service warned.
Average bills remained 66% higher than the historic norms seen in summer 2021, meaning that when things go wrong the cost to consumers was higher and they were more likely to need support with resolving their issue. Citizens Advice has called for reforms to billing rules, including limiting firms to be allowed to back-bill customers to six months for those with smart meters, down from the current 12 months.
